Transportation

Transportation Department

Welcome to the Chatham Central School District Transportation Department webpage. If you have any questions about bus routes or other Transportation Department related issues, please contact Steve Oleynek, Director of Transportation Services, at 518-392-1520.

Transportation Requests

Childcare Transportation Requests- If you are requesting transportation to and/or from a child care provider for the 2018-2019 school year, please complete the Alternate Transportation Request From and return this form to the Superintendent’s Office. All requests must be received by April 1, 2018. A new form must be completed each school year, even if your childcare arrangements have not changed.

Private/Parochial School Transportation Requests- Families with students planning to attend a private or parochial school in 2018-2019 MUST submit a Private/Parochial School Transportation Request Form to the Chatham CSD Transportation Department. All requests must be received by April 1, 2018. A new form must be completed each school year. Chatham CSD does not provide transportation services to private or parochial schools when the District does not have students in session as a result of a holiday, conference day or weather related school closing.

Bus Route Information

Chatham Central School District will mail bus route and bus stop information home to parents at their child’s primary address that is on file at the school. Bus routes are not published in the newspaper or on our website. Parents should expect to receive a mailing prior to the start of school.

About Chatham’s Bus Transportation

Chatham Central School District transports nearly 1,050 students approximately 480,000 miles annually.

The safe transportation of our children is of utmost importance and requires the understanding and cooperation of parents, children, bus drivers as well as school district staff and faculty. Rules for student behavior on school buses are established solely for the safety of our children. Parents must stress upon children to follow these rules for their own safety and that of the entire bus. Bus drivers have their hands full. They must operate the bus safely in traffic under varying weather conditions with as many as 50 or more students behind them. Loud and disorderly behavior distracts the driver and can pose serious safety problems. Anyone with questions concerning bus rules for students may obtain copies from the bus driver or a school principal.

Bus routes and stops are reviewed annually to determine the safest and most efficient routing, given existing regulations, policies, and fiscal constraints. It is not possible for all children to travel an equal distance to and from the bus stop. Within the Chatham School District, regular bus stops are established no more than one mile (two miles maximum for late bus) from the end of a child’s driveway. The natural consequence of safe, efficient and economical routing of school buses is that some children will travel greater distances than others but that no child will be required to travel over one mile between his or her home and regular bus stop. The safety of children going to and from bus stops is the responsibility of the parents, just as it is for those children who live within one mile from school.

All of the District’s school bus drivers make every effort to maintain the time schedule for their assigned routes. Traffic, weather and road conditions along with a variety of other factors occasionally cause variations in the bus schedule. It is important for parents to talk to their child’s bus driver directly, to determine the most consistent pickup and drop off times at their child’s bus stop. Considering the possible variations that can cause a bus to deviate from its schedule by a few minutes one way or another, students should be at their bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled pickup time. This will ensure that they do not miss the bus if it is running slightly ahead of schedule. Additionally, all children should wait at the bus stop in an orderly manner, in an area clearly visible to the approaching bus driver.

Kindergartners and pre-k students starting school for the first time pose a special safety concern. Therefore, a parent or guardian must be visibly present at the bus stop when a child is brought home. If a parent or guardian is not present at the bus stop, the child will not be dropped off but returned to the elementary school.

To make a request for a student to ride a different bus route or to be picked up or dropped off at a different bus stop, parents must send a written note to the school office. Changes should be limited to emergencies. All destination changes must be at an approved bus stop.

Requests for children dropped off at a different destination for childcare purposes must be consistent on a daily basis and be at an established bus stop. Children who are not residents of the Chatham School District are not allowed to ride district school buses without prior written approval of the Transportation Department.